


A Massive Favor

by priestessamy



Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: F/F, Fake/Pretend Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-24
Updated: 2017-12-24
Packaged: 2019-02-19 10:50:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,171
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13122213
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/priestessamy/pseuds/priestessamy
Summary: Steph's been telling her parents that she has a girlfriend in order to keep them from insisting she find a boyfriend. Only now they want to meet this girl who doesn't exist. So she needs someone to fill the role, just for a night. And for whatever reason, she approaches Sam for help.





	A Massive Favor

**Author's Note:**

> Shout-out to Katy Bentz and Hailey Hayes who are apparently becoming fans of the Myrich ship. Support like that means more than I think I will ever know how to express.

“Can you do me... like, kind of a massive favor?”

Sam looked up from her book, suddenly sensing that perhaps this wasn't just a casual conversation like she thought it was. Not that this was a bad thing. Over the last few weeks, their mutual friendship with Chloe had made the two girls more familiar with each other. Weekly game nights with all sorts of people had become the norm. And if Samantha were being honest with herself, she almost regretted not getting to know Steph sooner. She had a wonderful dry wit that never failed to get a laugh or two out of her. She had interesting thoughts about movies that Samantha had never even heard of. She read comics that weren't just about men in capes.

Okay well maybe Sam had grown a bit fond of her. But she didn't really consider the idea that they might be friends until Steph was standing there in her room looking so embarrassed over asking for a little help. “Um, why don't you start by telling me what it is?”

“Right. Duh. So. My parents are coming into town to see the upcoming production. And they can be kinda homophobic. Like they aren't gonna disown me, but they really want me to meet a nice boy and settle down and have a baby 'the right way'. They'd be willing to settle for me being bi or pan as long as I'm normal later in life. So... So anyway I've been telling them that I have a girlfriend. And they want to meet her.”

Samantha could sort of see where this was going, but she still felt like she needed to actually hear Steph say it before she leapt to any conclusions. “That sounds rough. What are you going to do?”

“I... figured I would find someone who might be willing to act as my girlfriend. Just for a day.” Yes, there it was.

Her heart was pounding just a little, and she decided to offer Steph a way out before this conversation got even more awkward. “Ah, and you want me to help you find somebody? I'm sure either Chloe or Rachel would be happy to help. Hm, perhaps... Dana or Juliet?” Any of those would be preferable. Obviously, it couldn't be her. Samantha was just too straight and earnest to properly pretend to be anyone's girlfriend.

Steph sighed wearily and shook her head. “Rachel and Chloe are disastrously in love, there's no way I'm going to add fuel to the fire by courting danger. Juliet is painfully straight and always expects payment in gossip. And Dana, bless her heart, is good on stage. But she has a terrible poker face. Plus, she's out of my league and not really a friend and...” She trailed off, taking in a huge breath. “Look, what I'm trying to say is that I think you could do the job pretty well.”

Was this a joke? Some kind of weird prank? It was a very cruel one, if that were the case. Never mind the surprising revelation that this meant she was supposedly in Steph's 'league'. That couldn't possibly be right. Maybe Steph was just inflating her ego so that Samantha would be more likely to say yes. “C-C'mon, Steph, that's not funny. I'm a worse actor than any of them.”

“I'm serious. Honestly, it doesn't matter who I pick, my parents are going to willfully choose to ignore the relationship anyway. I don't need someone convincing. I need someone smart and dependable who will stick to the game plan. Holding hands and kissing, all of that stuff would hurt more than help, so it's not like we'd have to be all lovey-dovey. The important thing will be keeping a consistent story. And I know you have a decent memory.”

Hm. So then maybe Steph really had thought this through pretty well. The promise that she wasn't being brought on board for her acting talents was a relief, not to mention knowing she wouldn't have to be overly romantic. Something like that might be too much to handle.

“...o-okay, tell me what we need to do.”

* * *

The two of them spent the week meeting frequently to clarify their story. Samantha had honestly expected that Steph would just tell her what it would be. But she actually took in a lot of input to make things as believable as possible.

“Okay, so I was thinking like... I notice you're reading a book I really like so I stop and talk to you about it. And we get to talking and blah blah blah. All very cute, very in character.” Steph was stretched out across her bed messing with her phone while they talked. Samantha was occupying her desk.

The idea certainly sounded realistic, but also maybe a little bit too... trope-y? Granted, she was pretending to be someone's girlfriend, so the whole thing was inherently trope-y. “You know, it might be helpful to stick as close to the truth as possible. The more lies we cook up, the harder we have to concentrate on this entire endeavor. So perhaps we already knew each other from day to day school life.”

Steph sat up and looked at her, then gave a noncommittal shrug. “Hah, see, that's exactly the kind of thing I might not have thought of. Good catch.” She sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose. “Christ, they're probably gonna want to know what book it was. Ummm... shit, you read Gaiman?”

“Uh, yeah, look who you're talking to.” Samantha pointed to herself for emphasis. “How about American Gods? That's a good one.”

And that was how they spent the next few days. Getting comfortable being around each other, deciding what their first date might have been (seeing Tangled), they had even spent a very awkward and embarrassing evening trying to hold hands in a way that didn't look totally ridiculous.

It was, arguably, the strangest week of Samantha's life. But she hoped that she might at least be able to help Steph survive this meal with her parents. It was something anybody would do for a friend.

* * *

Following a noisy, frenetic, and hilarious production of Noises Off, Sam joined Steph and her parents for dinner at a decent little Italian place in town. Arcadia Bay didn't exactly have a ton of options for restaurants, but denizens of the town made do. For a while, things really weren't all that bad. They had a lot of surface level stuff to talk about. Steph's dad was a videographer, and her mom was a lawyer. They asked Samantha about her own aspirations and what she was studying. They chatted about the play.

This idle conversation carried them along until they were at the restaurant and receiving their food. That was when her father finally launched in. “So! How did the two of you meet anyway?”

Oof. This was it then. “Oh, w-well, I already knew Steph, just from seeing her around school. But one day I'm reading this book out on the quad. And she comes up and starts talking to me about it all casually. Normally I was used to seeing Steph be pretty chill about everything. But that day, she was so animated and energetic. It... flipped a switch in how I saw her.”

They continued to alternate from there, taking over different parts of the story. In theory, it would help to show how obnoxiously in-tune they were. But Samantha had to admit that it did feel pretty natural, and she was delighted to see that Steph's parents were at least looking kind of pleased. She was starting to feel pretty good about how this whole evening was going.

At which point... things took a bit of a turn. Her mother smiled, though it seemed like a thin veil hiding... something. “It sounds like you girls are having a wonderful time. I must say, sweetie, I'm amazed that you've kept this experiment of yours going so long. I thought perhaps you might tire of it eventually. But it almost sounds like you're legitimately enjoying it!”

Steph groaned, hurrying to shove some food in her mouth. “Mom, seriously, today has been so nice. We really don't need to go into this. Especially with Sam here...”

“It's just so important to us that you can settle down when you're older. It's going to be hard to meet a man if you're carousing with other girls all the time~” Her mother may have been smiling sympathetically, but it was clear she didn't understand what she was talking about at all. Samantha could actually feel herself becoming angry, righteously so. But this wasn't her place to say anything, it wasn't her business, not even as Steph's 'girlfriend'.

“Come on, it can't be that much longer before I'll be able to 'settle down' with a woman, legally. And adoption is not only an _option_ , as far as I'm concerned, it's a _necessity_ as long as there are so many parentless children out there.” Poor Steph looked so tired. This exhausting conversation must have happened a million times before.

Her father responded in a similar way, looking almost as tired, though from the opposite side of things. “But it wouldn't be a _real_ marriage. They wouldn't _really_ be your child. You see? We're just trying to encourage you to aim for a normal life.”

“How can you say something like that!?” Samantha hadn't even realized that she was the one raising her voice until both adults, as well as Steph, were staring at her wide-eyed. Too late to stop the train now. “How can you possibly prioritize 'normal' over 'happy'? If Stephanie were to resign herself to that kind of life, she would be miserable! Steph deserves to be married to a woman who loves her for all her little quirks, and adores her for the nerdy hobbies she indulges in! And to think that you're too proud to want that for her? It makes me... sick...” She stood up and her feet began to carry her toward the door of the restaurant. “Thank you for dinner. It's been a lovely evening.” She didn't even bother burying the venom this time.

* * *

Getting back to Blackwell would probably take an hour of walking or so. It wasn't the worst thing in the world. And that righteous fury was giving Samantha a good amount of bonus energy. But after only a few minutes of walking, she was vaguely aware of someone running after her. Samantha braced herself and turned, beyond relieved to see that it was Steph. Surprisingly, she was actually smiling. “Hey! Wait up!”

“Um... hey. I'm sorry for... ruining dinner.”

Finally, she slowed her approach and ground to a halt, chuckling almost jovially. “Pfft, dinner was already ruined. At least you gave us an excuse to get the hell out of there.” She stared down at the sidewalk and scuffed her ratty sneaker against the cement. “Y'know, they did that stuff so much I think I got used to it? Complacent? That kinda thing? So... if anything, I should really be thanking you for drop-kicking the entire situation like a badass. Seriously, that was... fucking fantastic!”

“Ah-hah, I mean, I just saw red and then started saying a bunch of stuff. It was nothing.” Samantha laughed bashfully, crossing her arms and idly shifting her stance. “I barely even remember what I said to them, y'know? It just came out.”

Steph was still grinning from ear to ear. “Too bad for you, I remember what you said to them. Probably not gonna forget it any time soon. Never had someone stand up for me before, not like that. Hate to say it, Myers, but you're kinda stuck with me now.”

She considered the threat for a moment, but ultimately knew it was probably too late to let it bother her. This whole stupid idea had brought them a little closer. And it wasn't like Steph wasn't a pretty awesome person. “I can think of worse fates...”

They continued walking in the direction of Blackwell again. The weather was nice and they were in weirdly high spirits, so it didn't seem all that annoying. Even though they didn't have to put on any kind of charade any more, Steph suddenly latched onto her hand and held it possessively. It felt nice, especially after getting some practice during the week. But It was a little odd to happen out of nowhere. Samantha didn't receive an explanation for a few moments. After some walking in silence, Steph gently cleared her throat. “You can tell me if I'm barking up the wrong tree but... would you like to go on a... y'know, a _real_ date some time?”

Samantha let some more silence pass over them as she considered the offer. “I-I would... Um, promise me one thing though?”

“Yeah! Yeah, anything.” Steph sounded pretty excited, which was a nice confidence boost.

“...Promise me I don't have to deal with your parents for at least three months.”

“Deal.”

 


End file.
